food trends

Growing your own edible garden

Growing up we were lucky to have a Mom passionate about growing food.

I didn't appreciate then the tender asparagus shoots each spring coaxed from the hard earth or the lovely ruby red raspberries prized from brambly bush.

While my friends ate slippery. soft canned vegetables, I ate a wide variety of fresh garden treats - Swiss chard, sugar snap peas, asparagus, buttercrunch lettuce and delicate squash blossoms.

I didn't know then the tasty fried squash blooms were an Italian delicacy known as Fiori di Zucca. I probably wouldn't have eaten it!

Even if you haven't much space, you can tend your own edible garden. Mine is not much more than some pots planted with herbs - basil, rosemary and thyme along with mesclun.  Soon I'll add beefsteak tomatoes, Italian green beans, garlic and zucchini.

The edible garden is more relevant than ever. Use your imagination and be inspired by your kitchen.


Foodspring.com reports 2010 food trends

New York , NY -- Fried beer, Eataly and Lady Gaga’s meat dress gave specialty food lovers plenty to chew on in 2010. Bustaurants emerged as the new food truck, and butchers gained celebrity status.

These are some of the 20 most influential food trends, events and news stories of the year identified by the editors of foodspring.com. foodspring is a website for food enthusiasts produced by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc. (NASFT), a not-for-profit trade association for food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs.

Also on the foodspring list:

• A-List chefs give back
• Food trucks 2.0
• D-List celebrities pitch pistachios, including Snooki and Rod Blagojevich
• Sea buckthorn berries
• iPad menu apps
• Mandatory calorie listings on menus
• Food deserts
• Eataly
• Death of Oldways founder K. Dun Gifford
• Umami in a paste
• Hyperlocal food production
• Solar-powered food trucks
• 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History
• High Times Cannabis Cookbook
• Child Nutrition Act

The complete list and stories behind each pick was posted today on foodspring.com.